The prosecution and the defense will ask a judge Monday to drastically reduce the prison sentence of a Massillon man who was convicted last week of fatally shooting his hospitalized wife.

John E. Wise, 68, testified that he shot his wife of 45 years to end her suffering. Barbara Wise, 65, was in the intensive care unit at Akron General Medical Center after suffering triple cerebral aneurysms that had left her unable to speak, a family friend has said.

Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh said she would file a motion Thursday asking that Wise be sentenced for the lesser crime of manslaughter to avert a life sentence.

If accepted by Summit County Common Pleas Judge Margaret Rowlands, Wise would be sentenced to six years in prison — three years for manslaughter and three years on the firearm specification.

The prosecutor's office says both Wise and his attorney have agreed to the recommended sentence.

"It is our duty to seek justice," Bevan Walsh said in a statement. "In light of the unique facts of this case, a shorter prison sentence is just."

Wise was convicted of aggravated murder, murder and felonious assault (all with firearm specifications), which carries a mandatory life sentence. He would have to serve 23 years to be eligible for parole.

"This minimum mandatory sentence would be unduly harsh based upon the unique circumstances of this case," the motion says. "In spite of the defendant's unwillingness to resolve the matter prior to the jury's verdict it is the state's position that the manslaughter charge was and remains a fair and just resolution to a tragic event."

In making the surprise request, the prosecutor's office cited supporting case law.

The defendant rejected prior plea offers, including on the morning of the trial as well as at the close of his case, according to the motion. The agreement would have included a manslaughter charge.

Wise had pleaded insanity, claiming he couldn't stand to see his wife in pain in the hospital. "She opened her eyes and looked at me like she was in pain and a tear rolled down her cheek," Wise told the jury last week. "I decided then what I was going to do." He later walked into her hospital room, kissed her on the cheek and then shot her.

Wise said he intended to kill himself, but the weapon jammed. Mercy is not a defense to a murder charge in Ohio.

The prosecution said the defendant had formed the "mistaken belief that his wife was suffering and in a vegetative state.

"What Mr. Wise did was illegal and very dangerous," Bevan Walsh said in a statement. "He killed someone, and he endangered the lives of everyone in that hospital."